If you haven’t noticed, your mail carrier certainly has: Election season has arrived in California and with it, the regular flood of political ads from unions, corporations and other special interest groups hoping to influence your vote.

The Kern County Elections Office announced this week that official drop boxes are now available 24 hours, 7 days a week. The boxes will close at 8 p.m. on June 7.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Wednesday a bill introduced by state Sen. Melissa Hurtado, D-Sanger, that would exempt certain tribal gaming projects from review under the California Environmental Quality Act.

California lawmakers won’t be creating a state Election Day holiday this year. Nor will they be providing grants to local governments to convert public golf courses into affordable housing, or forcing health insurers to cover fertility treatments.

Leave it to politicians: The only consensus among all four underdogs in the race for California's new 20th Congressional District is that they all see themselves, individually, as the best alternative to eight-term incumbent Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield.

There are five candidates on the ballot in the June primary for whom defeat is, quite literally, not an option.

Don’t ever let anyone tell you your vote doesn’t count. Especially if you live in the 22nd Congressional District in 2022.

The three men running for Kern County's Third District supervisor seat have made it easy on voters this year by presenting them with distinct candidate choices leading up to the June 7 primary election.

Residents of the 16th Senate District will have a handful of choices to choose from on the ballot June 7.

Kern County's lawsuit challenging California's de-facto ban on fracking has been thrown out of court after a Fresno judge ruled last month the filing was misdirected and improperly sought to limit Gov. Gavin Newsom's speech or executive duties.

The Kern County Elections Office released a list this week of candidates who’ve accepted expenditure limits under Measure K.

The Fair Political Practices Commission said in a letter Thursday it's looking into a complaint lodged against Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez alleging she violated the Political Reform Act’s campaign disclosure provisions.

State Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, announced Tuesday that Senate Bill 1195 passed unanimously through the Senate Military and Veterans Affairs Committee.

The Kern County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to renew a $224,316 contract with Dominion Voting Systems during Tuesday’s meeting.

A bipartisan effort by state Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, to add human trafficking to the state’s list of 42 serious and 23 violent crimes, failed Tuesday in a 2-1 party-line vote in the Senate Public Safety Committee.

House minority leader Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday released new fundraising totals that underscored his reputation as a major force in helping finance Republican political campaigns.

A national political effort targeting battleground districts like the southern Central Valley's 22nd Congressional District kicked off a local campaign Friday with a modest morning event at Bakersfield's Liberty Bell.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy led a chorus of local Republican lawmakers and oil producers Monday in denouncing Democratic oil and gas policies at the federal and state levels, saying the United States would be stronger and the world safer if domestic producers were allowed to drill for more petroleum.

The Kern County Board of Supervisors joined a growing chorus of local Republicans in calling Tuesday for Gov. Gavin Newsom to loosen restrictions on local oilfield permitting amid the ban on Russian imports.

House minority leader Kevin McCarthy reentered California energy politics Tuesday with a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom calling for looser oil permitting — including a repeal of the governor's ban on fracking — to help dull economic pain expected from President Joe Biden's move earlier in the d…

Well into his campaign for the 3rd District seat of the Kern County Board of Supervisors, former California Highway Patrol Assistant Chief Brian Smith formally announced to the news media Thursday he is running for the position.

Gov. Gavin Newsom called for a mix of investments Monday to support California's — and specifically Kern's — transition from petroleum to renewable power, including $83 million toward construction of an energy innovation center at Cal State Bakersfield and $215 million to train displaced oil…

It came as little surprise at this point, but on Monday, Kern County Supervisor Mike Maggard made it official by announcing he will not seek reelection to a fifth term in June.

As the clock ticks for federal employees and contractors to get fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4 or face weekly testing, Rep. David Valadao sent a letter Monday calling on President Joe Biden to set aside the mandates for economic reasons.

Reps. Kevin McCarthy and David Valadao joined eight other Republican members of Congress this week in calling on President Joe Biden and Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare emergencies that would allow the maximum amount of water from this week's storms to be diverted south to Central Valley farmers.

Rep. David Valadao's vote Wednesday in favor of creating a commission to examine the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol has again put the Hanford Republican at odds with his Central Valley neighbor and sometime ally in Congress, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, whose vote against the measure helped set the…

First lady Jill Biden honored the legacy of civil rights icon Cesar Chavez during a visit Wednesday to the original home of the United Farm Workers, declaring she and her husband remain inspired by the late union leader's service and sacrifices on behalf of people "who were mostly unseen."

First lady Jill Biden plans to visit Delano Wednesday as part of a Democratic Party tradition local Hispanic leaders say pays appropriate tribute to the Central Valley's disenfranchised poor while underscoring the continuing relevance of labor unions in national politics.

An attempt to censure Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, over his vote to impeach former U.S. President Donald Trump will face an uphill battle during the California Republican Party convention this weekend.

Speakers at an online public hearing Thursday night staked out opposing positions on Kern County’s proposal to reestablish an over-the-counter system of oil permitting.

More than 7,000 people signed a petition submitted Wednesday asking Kern's Board of Supervisors and Gov. Gavin Newsom to halt the county's push to reinstate streamlined oil permitting.

Local Republicans on social media pummeled Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, after he voted Wednesday to impeach President Donald Trump, a move his ally and congressional neighbor Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, forgave him for and observers said may reflect the political realities of his d…

Bakersfield Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy said he implored President Donald Trump during an intense, hourlong phone conversation Monday morning to accept his electoral defeat and move forward with a peaceful transition of power.

Reports have surfaced Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, privately urged President Donald Trump Monday to recognize President-elect Joe Biden won the election and accept that the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol last week were Trump supporters, not members of the leftist group Antifa.

A former Democratic candidate for California's 34th Assembly District seat, Julie Solis, was arrested Monday after refusing to leave Rep. Kevin McCarthy's Bakersfield office — an episode she live-streamed on social media for 45 minutes while calling for the congressman's resignation.

Bakersfield resident Daniel Shaffer can’t remember exactly when he made the decision to fly out to Washington, D.C. But he and other supporters of President Donald Trump had marked their calendars for Jan. 6 as a day to convene in the nation’s capital.

While chaos and riots overtook the nation's Capitol building, a small, quiet and very religious prayer rally was held at noon Wednesday in front of the Liberty Bell on Truxtun Avenue.

Just days ahead of his swearing-in ceremony, incoming 21st Congressional District Rep. David Valadao said he has tested positive for COVID-19.

News reports out of Washington raised a legitimate question this week about Rep. Kevin McCarthy: How is it the Bakersfield Republican missed one of the most politically delicate situations of the last four years — Monday's vote on whether to override President Donald Trump's veto of the Nati…

Political mobilization efforts in Kern County, combined with pressing national concerns that spurred people to vote, have increased engagement in local elections to the benefit of Democrats and Republicans alike, even as it may have brought them mixed results in individual races.

The roughly $900 billion pandemic relief bill passed by Congress Monday night would set aside at least $70 million for projects in Kern County, with most of the local money earmarked for construction work at Edwards Air Force Base.

Outgoing Rep. T.J. Cox has declared an intention to run again for California's 21st Congressional District seat, though it was unclear Friday how committed he remains because his candidacy paperwork was filed weeks before he ultimately conceded losing the Nov. 3 General Election.

The Democratic challenger to Rep. Kevin McCarthy in the 2020 race for California's 23rd Congressional District seat, Kim Mangone, recently underwent cancer surgery and is now recovering in "great spirits," a member of her campaign staff reported Tuesday.